The Chicago Columbian Exhibition of 1892: Showcasing the Exceptionalism of America

I. Introduction
1. Thesis statement: Why did the Chicago World’s Fair show that America was such an “exceptional country”? What does it seem that the US does better than anyone else?
a. Exhibition was created for 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ 1492: why was Columbus’ discovery of America so great?
b. What were the key things special about America, about this exhibition, and about Chicago, in only one or two sentences?
c. How did the things stated in b, above, show that America was such an exceptional country, according to this writer? Make sure to use the term “American Exceptionalism” in these one or two sentences.
II. Layout of Exhibition: How does he describe the general layout of the fair in the city? What are the main points he emphasizes about its layout, size, etc. Were the fair grounds somewhere in Chicago in particular, that was impressive or beautiful?
III. Americans are exceptional: what is the main point in this document about why Americans were so great, as shown in the Exhibition, in one sentence?
1. American technology is exceptional
a. What was wonderful about railroads?
i. What was at the fair that showed this: a display that railroads was a wonderful technology?
b. Were there other things that were wonderful technologies?
i. [use model in “a” for the other technologies]
IV. American manufacturing is exceptional
1. What was so special about the manufacturing machines and displays in the fair, in one sentence?
2. Which aspect about manufacturing does the fair show?
V. Nature
1. What does the fair show about nature?
a. What were the exhibits about nature?
VI. Art
a. What was the main point he said about what the fair shows about art, in one sentence?
i. What sorts of arts were shown in the fair?
ii. Were Americans better at some arts than at others? Were some other country or countries better in some particular art, than was America?
VII. Women
1. Why were American women special?
VIII. Chicago and American Exceptionalism
1. What was the main point about Chicago, in one sentence?
2. What had happened to destroy Chicago?
3. When it was rebuilt, was it impressive? If so, how?
4. How does the city of Chicago relate to Americans? Does the American ` character share anything with the character of the city of Chicago?
IX. Conclusion
1. Why was the fair so wonderful, according to the writer?
2. Why were Americans so exceptional?
3. What in the fair shows that Americans were exceptional?